The Hoarders Anonymous Thread Part Two...Still Sorting It Out ~ Together!

[Solo]

Sorting out the home when you're a hoarder (big or small) is never going to be easy and we should know! but having someone else to support you, talk about it with you and make you feel much less of a freak of mother nature makes a huge difference!

If you are any of the following:
A hoarder. In a mess. Untidy. Disorganised. Lazy with housework that has lead to something that you now feel unable to deal with. If you are ill and not coping with the housework. If you are emotionally attached to items for whatever reason. If you have a combination of any or all of these things or something completely different, please join us. No one here will judge you. We have something in common and we have a common goal. We share our ideas and we share our disappointments no matter how big and our celebrations no matter how small.

Welcome to thread number 2! :)

[Solo]

New Thread

[Cagliostro]

Yes nearly on thread three! So glad this is still going strong :)

Thanks for the congrats, and congrats welcome to Penguin! :)

[Solo]

I'm going to start a new thread by the way as we are almost there with this one!

[Solo]

Congratulations Cag and welcome and congratulations Penguin .
Goodness! I finally decided to get rid of my baby clothes and equipment from Ds at Easter bh weekend 2006 and Ds was 7yo. What I didn't know was that I was actually pregnant! I had to acquire absolutely everything again! This time I have loads of girl clothes which are beautiful and I want to sell...will I ever do it? I hope so, but I don't want to just take them to C4C to be ripped off as they are all Next, Monsoon etc.

[MissPoogy]

Welcome Penguin.

I had same issue when I was pregnant (1st baby though) and is it hard but doable (nesting instinct kicked in so I blitzed through). It's keeping on top of it that is difficult.

Do a little bit at a time.

Not the best thing for decluttering but to help I have a "don't know box" as I spend so much time pondering over most items I lose time that could be spent constructively. So crap ends up in "don't know" box and dealt with a couple of days later. Means the stuff you are more decisive with gets dealt with quicker.

[NotMyPenguin]

I am due in September (second child) and REALLY REALLY need to clear out the boxes of stuff that I have in my bedroom. I have been waiting until I have more time, ha ha, which is clearly never going to happen. Now I need the space. And I also need to get the old baby clothes out and figure out what can be re-used and get rid of the rest.

But I do tend to put things like this off because it feels like such a massive task. Some support from others with similar missions would be super!

[MissPoogy]

Congrats Cag :)

Things are finally looking okay. Still loads but it's no longer "I have no idea where to start". It's all going the right way!

Thank God!

[Cagliostro]

I'm definitely feeling more mentally ready to declutter. It'll just be finding the energy to DO it.

We have literally NO baby stuff - not even a single item of clothing! So we will have to buy things, but I'm inspired to try and finish getting rid of stuff before we get to that stage.

[Cagliostro]

Thank you both!
DD (9) has actually been on about having a little brother or sister for some time now, if it's a boy she wants Tamaki, Takumi or Tadashi.(Girls names she wants Percy Jackson inspired... Thalia or Annabeth! Or Athene!)
Not that we're telling the Caglets about this yet, early days and all that.

Yes I have been feeling a lot worse than normal, the nausea has been around a good few weeks (not sure how far along I am) and even for my usual illness issues the fatigue has been epic. I really wasn't expecting the BFP, I just thought I was more ill!

I am quietly glad we didn't get round to selling the decent toddler toys though - will clean them up - Happyland, wooden train set, wooden blocks and Duplo - and seal them for storing in the attic. They're currently taking up floor space in the bedroom!

[CheshireChat]

There's that saying that if you wait to have a child until the situation is 'ideal', you'll probably never be ready. Might explain why you've been feeling under the weather as well.

What names ?

Oh and congrats again.

[Babieseverywhere]

We had a good sort today. I had help from DD1 10yo and DS 8yo and we sorted out their room properly.

We went through toys and non hanging clothes and got 9 binbags to go !

Yet to sort hanging clothes and soft toys.

DH moved the following furniture out of their room...6 foot book shelf, high chest of drawers and stepped toy storage.

He then built a 16 cube Kallax unit. I had already packed all the cubes with the children earlier...just one empty cube for when DD1 starts high school in September for her books.

Very tired, still not 100% right but glad we did it.

Tomorrow is the little girls room and Monday our room. Wish me luck and send me energy :)

[Babieseverywhere]

Cag Congratulations...A new baby. ..how lovely. They don't need much space at the start, so no panicking, look after yourself and get plenty of naps :)

[Cagliostro]

Yup. Took a test earlier and I am indeed pregnant. Not ideal situation TBH so am really conflicted, but I am happy as is DH!

Is it wrong that I'm dreaming up anime-related baby names 😜

[CheshireChat]

Cag are you hinting you're pregnant? If yes, congratulations ! Now that's what I call motivation .

I haven't done anything either yesterday as DS was a nightmare or today as I thought fuck it and went to park and will have to go to shop as I'm not stepping out of the house tomorrow.

I tell a lie- I've washed the plates as we were running out!

[Cagliostro]

I've not done anything for a while, I've been feeling sick and even more tired than usual. Today I found out why. We now need to somehow declutter enough to fit in...
...
...
...
...
...a baby 😮

[Babieseverywhere]

Sounds like things are moving forward
. Well done guys :)

On the bright side I have saved up enough for the new storage for the big kids room went to Ikea yesterday and brought it.

On the less bright news I have a chest infection and struggling to breath properly and trying to summon energy to build and fill it ! Waiting for antiboitics to kick in first.

Lovely day isn't it.. so sunny :)

[MissPoogy]

Half of storage empty.

Stuff we keeping boxed up in attic ready for finding homes in house (want to empty storage first).

Taken tons to charity shop. Recycled so much too.

Still a long way to go.

[CheshireChat]

Babieseverywhere Yes to small children and big toys! DS absolutely loves Toot Toot, but the Sheer amount of space it takes...

[CheshireChat]

Had a good day today- well, cleaning all day isn't my ideal, but at least the house looks better.

Tidied up the too small clothes that ended up on DS' bedroom floor (what was DP thinking?!) , vacced the living room, hallway and kitchen and did 2 loads of laundry and washed and put away all the dirty pots.

Best thing is I've cleared the table in the kitchen so we can now start using it which will keep the living room crumb free! Also I can let DS do various crafty activities while I cook/ clean as he isn't the sort of kid that you can leave unsupervised.

I want a nap now... [Sleepy]

[Babieseverywhere]

Welcome John

Hope you feel better Solo

I had a good go at my oldest kids room. Ended up bagging some stuff for them to sort through but at least cleared enough space, so I could clean their window and change their bedding.

I then started the little girls room ! What a nightmare. I bagged loads for sorting at the weekend. Again cleared enough floor for me to clean windows and change bedding. But it is no where near done...young children play with so much stuff and a lot of it is big toys. But even worse a lot of it is teeny tiny and that is even harder to keep track of.

I do like it when they mix and match toys, it shows imagination. I laughed when I found tiny itty bitty furniture in the massive doll house. Each tiny item in the correct room. ..bless them.

[Solo]

Busy lot! Hi John :)

[MissPoogy]

DH has bagged up loads of old paper for recycling (7+ bags). He's also finished the flooring in attic so will be doing plaster and insulation over the next week.

He bought 3 loads form storage which we have gone through and decluttered. Just need boxing up now.

Organised DD toys and boxed up.

Washed some more bedding today.

[CheshireChat]

DP cleared the hallway of all stuff so that makes it easier to clean, just need to give the whole dow downstairs a vac now.

Cag Attack on Titan is finally getting a new season later this year so I'd just wait and watch the whole thing. It's horrible when you feel drained especially if it's due to pain.

[Cagliostro]

Please go to the doctor solo

John totally get you with the getting rid of stuff you haven't used. It's like admitting defeat :( I find that so hard.

Cheshire no I'm not managing to keep up with any series at the moment. We were watching attack on titan online but our internet is dodgy, I also have moribito on DVD to watch but never find the time. Or energy TBH as I do find it mentally tiring watching new stuff. Oh also one called your lie in April, DSD is bringing that back from uni next month so we can watch together.

No progress here other than a couple of things out of the house, relapsing and in pain

[CanadianJohn]

We've been married for 40 years, and in this house for 22 years. We don't have that much stuff, but I'm terrible at keeping old hinges, bent nails, scraps of wood, in case they'll come in handy. I'm gradually getting rid of "stuff", either to charity shops or the dump.

Clearing out and discarding, I was surprised to discover that it's not the well-used items that are hard to let go, but the unused items. I feel like I am letting go of the hobby, the activity, the plans and dreams. Really, I suppose, I am recognising that I'll never run again, never dance again, never play tennis again. Dance? I can barely walk, somedays.

So, it's a sad business. My wife is having a harder time with discarding photographs and momentos. At least half the pix are of her relatives who have died. She doesn't want to digitalise everything, and just looking thru the photographs brings up memories.